Messy Buns & Latin Chant

There is this great bit from My Best Friend's Wedding  where Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz are discussing who the guy should be with based on what type of food they are. "No, creme brule could never be jello.  You  could never be jello!" "But I  have  to be jello!!" I have zero interest in creme brule. It has long since been established I am 100% unavoidably jello. And I am totally chill with that. What I want to be is a waffle, but just like poor Cameron Diaz, I can't be. I am sentenced to be spaghetti for the rest of my life. Before you start thinking I let the two year old write for me today, let me explain. There is a book called, Guys are Waffles, Girls are Spaghetti by Chad Eastham , which a review on Goodreads posits as the healthier alternative to I Kissed Dating Goodbye  (more on THAT monstrosity another day). The premise is based on neurological research that shows how men and women process information differently. Men have little ment...

Two things in life are certain: death and taxes. Two things in an internet comment section are certain:  Godwin's Law  and people calling their opponents "sheeple". "American Sniper" has a line where Chris Kyle's dad talks about sheep, sheepdogs, and wolves. He says that all people are either sheep, sheepdogs or wolves. I'm not a sheepdog by any stretch of the imagination, and I hope to heaven I'm not a wolf. So I guess that makes me a sheep. I think I am okay with that. "Sheeple" is always meant in a derogatory fashion, but I can't see how there is anything wrong with being a sheep. I love sheep, raised them in 4H for years. They are delicious, they keep you warm, they sound cute (usually), and to the point of this post, they are very easily led. The Bible thinks quite highly of sheep too. Certainly likes them better than goats, anyhow (Matthew 25:32-33). Heaven is going to be chockablock full of sheep. The problem arises wh...

Early this week, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW)  published The Nashville Statement , laying out a biblical understanding of gender and sexuality. It is fairly straightforward, fourteen short articles affirming positives about God's design for us as men and women, and denying the misunderstandings (can we bring back the word heresy?) brought about by militant feminism and the Sexual Revolution. Particularly refreshing to me was the way that the writers included all disordered expressions of sexuality. Article II says, "We deny that any affections, desires or commitments ever justify sexual intercourse before or outside marriage; nor do they justify any form of sexual immorality." There's more to the attack on marriage and sexuality than it just being between one man and woman, and I appreciate that this was acknowledged. Whatever our personal struggles may be, sexually, we are all held to the same standard: Are you married? No? Then don...

My unpopular opinion of the day: Michelle Carter was fairly sentenced, and perhaps shouldn't serve any time at all. https://peopledotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/michelle-carter19.jpg?w=2000&h=1333 You probably don't know her by name, but I guarantee you have heard her story. She is the girl from Massachusetts who was convicted of manslaughter for texting her boyfriend as he killed himself, encouraging, and even demanding, that he complete his attempt.  The prosecution and media presented her as an attention whore who wanted to be the poor girl who's boyfriend killed himself. She just wanted all eyes on her.  Even Matt Walsh, who I generally admire for his calculation and insight had these harsh words to say:  Screenshot from Facebook I heard her story and also thought she was a terrible person. I laughed at memes criticizing her appearance. I ranted about her sentence; it was nowhere near harsh enough.  Then a friend posted thi...

Whenever I spend time with converts to Catholicism, I am inspired by their passion for our Faith. We cradle Catholics tend to take our Faith for granted, and we often forget how amazing Christ's Church really is. As I drifted off to sleep last night, and as I drank my almost daily pot of coffee (heyo, toddler mom life) this morning, I spent some time reflecting on my favorite aspects of the Catholic Church. There are far too many to list, but these are what are on my heart now this evening. Catholics have a monopoly on Truth. We don't have to just say, "We believe that this is true", we can also say, "We know this is true." Jesus told us that He is "the Truth" (John 14:6) and that He left His Church the fullness of Truth. While we may not completely understand the teachings of the Church at all times, we have the surety that Her teachings are infallible and will always lead us to God. The Truth we have is not something stagnant or quie...

I was scrolling through SiriusXM and stopped to listen to the Catholic Channel for a hot minute, and the host was asking people what they thought of married priests. He himself wasn't opposed in principle, more just in practice. A parishioner from a parish in my area called in and said that he loved having a married priest as a pastor, and he thought that should be the rule not the exception. His biggest reason was that his priest could give excellent advice as a parent and as a husband. He found it preposterous that an unmarried priest could even begin to counsel a married couple or a parent since he would have no point of reference. An unmarried priest can't relate to married couples? Baloney. A classic bachelor might not quite get it, but a priest is by no means your run of the mill single guy. When priests are ordained, they become a representative of Christ. They become married to His Church, just like nuns become married to Jesus. The Catholic Church is the spo...

I grew up at what was then the most traditional parish in our diocese. About half of the women there veiled; none of the nine girls in my family did. I had a brief encounter with the practice when I was about nine or ten, but I remember it more as a chance to play dress up than a pious practice. My strongest memory of it was a distinct perception (real or not) of holier-than-thouness from the ladies who did.  Now that the Motu Proprio has been around for a decade, I am seeing many of my peers begin to veil. Not only do most of the women--young and old-- at the local Tridentine Mass veil, as to be expected, but some of my best friends do as well. Even my two sisters-in-law who don't even go to a Latin Mass on the regular walk into church sporting lovely lace over their heads.  At first I thought it was just peer pressure telling me I needed to go buy a mantilla. But a nagging voice (oh hey there, conscience) has been bothering me for over a year, and after this past ...